[86SeaWeed]

Hello everybody,

I am sure many, if not all of us have fallen in love with a boat one time or another...

I have many things going on right now and I do not know if I will be holding on to my boat (wont be able to use it.) Unfortunately, I have only had it for 6 months as I bought it at the end of last season (it is my second boat.) It is an old Sportcraft, I love the model, and when I bought it I was ready to put a lot of work into it to get it into tip-top shape. At this moment I don't know if I should or shouldn't. I love the hull and am thinking about gutting the boat and making it a project over the next few months (or years,) piece by piece, whenever I get a chance.
I have some questions, and need some advice...

Has anybody (well, any of you readers) done this before? If you did, how did it come out? Was it worth all of the time, effort and of course $$?

Also, I have an original TRS drive on the back that is actually in pretty good shape. I know these are just about obsolete... approx what is this unit worth?

I am thinking about getting rid of the boat piece by piece until it is bare and start from scratch - (engine, painting, fiberglass repair, upholstery, etc..)I am fortunate enough to be able to store the boat for free so that is not a problem.

So which of the two choices;

1. Sell the whole boat in one piece and forget about it...
or
2. Do what I said above and keep the boat that I fell in love with...

Thanks for your suggestions...

 

[Lattitudechange]

The TRS was the pre Bravo drive. It was a good drive in it's time. It was the performance version of their "model I" drive. (in their time)
Unfortunately for you, it isn't worth much on the market. If you can find someone who needs an older replacement drive, then and only then will you know what it's worth.

If you decide to renovate an older boat, you have to decide these things....

First, your budget
Second, if you really like the boat and if it suits your needs Third, after you establish your budget, weigh that against resale value. When you get bored of the boat and want to sell it, see if you will get back the money you put into it.
Fourth, If you decide to renovate this boat for enjoyment, then skip everything above except for the budget part.

Lastly, check the current market value for older Sportcraft boats. That will probably steer you in the right direction.

 

[GradySailfish]

Rebuilding a boat from scratch and taking her from junk to pristine condition can provide you with the greatest satisfaction you can imagine. I rebuilt all of my boats to one extent or another and I get a great sense of pride and accomplishment.

As a practical note, I need to tell you that any project you undertake will cost 50% more then you anticipated and take 75-100% longer then you anticipate. Trust me on these figures because I;ve been there done that a few times and plan to again.

If you like the boat, if it serves the fishing you do well, you have the time and can put together what she needs financiall over a period of time, then do it.

When doing it, make sure you don't half ass stuff or skimp. If you don't have the money to complete particular aspect of the project, wait until you do have the money to buy the roght stuff. Not doing so will cost you later. When working with fiberglass, work neat because grinding, sanding and fairing is a major pain in the ass.

Think it through and weigh your options, but either way
good luck in whatever you do.

 

[Fishbust]

hmmm..

The fact that you are asking the question is not good.

If you do it, it would not be about the money because you know, with ANYTHING, you won't get the money and time back out of it if you sell it. You would be doing it for you.

I have done complete interiors in the past on my first boat. I removed and restored teak on my present boat, stripped the bottom-barriercoated-teflon painted, gutted my present boat of all fuel lines, all wiring, all plumbing, all hydraulics, my entire dashboard, all electronics, removed and sold off the old motors, on and on and on...........it is not a big deal but you do need a plan and finances in order. It should not take to do the work. I did the bulk of it in a single winter, working around my schedule and the weather. Price shop everything along the way. My boat sat for 3 years while I was saving up the money to do it. You can't get much done without the money in hand. The teak/woodwork and bottom I did at a different time. All the rest, including removing and hanging the new motors I did myself in 1 winter without help. The wiring, it is good to know what you are doing and use the right materials, wiring is a place you don't want to make shortcuts, but I can tell you I rewired my entire for half the cost West Marine wants for the same materials. An upholstery place wanted 900 bucks for 3 ****pit bolsters, I built my own through ebay for 125 bucks. The savings goes on if you are comfortable with finding things on ebay. If you are running a single motor and have a single station, the job is even easier and much cheaper. Part of what makes the job easy is we love boats. The other part will come from you being comfortable mechanically, with wiring, with plumbing, hydraulics, etc. etc. For the things you don't know, help is here on the board.

Once you start the spending though, you are committed. So be sure you want to do it. Asking on a board if you should do it or toss it tells me you might not be motivated enough for the job.

If I had a nickel for every person who says they don't have time to work on the boat. It is like everything else, an hour at a time when you have it. The hours add up and the boat gets done!

 

[Flukinicehole]

I was doing the same thing a few years ago. I spent the winter getting my boat ready for a rebuild in the spring. I gutted the whole boat down to the bare hull. Stringers and all were ripped out. I bought all the fiberglass and resin for the rebuild. I was going to make the boat a center console it was a duel console. After a weekend of grinding ( about 20hrs) I was starting to get the stringers set up and started looking around on ebay. Well I found a nice hull which needed a drive and engine. Well I had those from my current project. Long story short I ended up buying the hull from ebay (very very cheap) I will not tell the price

as some guys still have hard feelings over the price I paid

. Ended up aborting the project and replacing the engine and drive in 2 weeks and still use it to this day. I fired it up yesterday for this season. I would like to have finished my project but in the end I found it better to just get a new hull and save a whole lot of $ and time with the family. They love the bigger boat and we have a lot of fun on it. I still wish I had went through with the project it is a lot of work but I enjoyed doing it. The thing I didnt enjoy was the time away from the family working on it. The first picture is of the aborted project turned into a dumpster the second is of the boat I ended up buying. Lets just put it this way I spent more in fiberglass and resin then I did on the new boat

.